Droves of Palestinians overwhelm new Gaza aid centre in Rafah as warning shots ring out

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 27, 2025 12:18 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Chaos erupted connected the 2nd time of assistance operations by a caller U.S.-backed radical successful Gaza arsenic hopeless Palestinians overwhelmed a centre distributing nutrient connected Tuesday, breaking done fences. Nearby Israeli troops fired informing shots, sending radical fleeing successful panic.

The Israeli subject said its troops fired the informing shots successful the country extracurricular the centre and that "control implicit the concern was established."

At slightest 3 injured Palestinians were seen by The Associated Press being brought from the scene, 1 of them bleeding from his leg.

"All the radical who went did truthful to devour and provender their children," Jihad Khader told CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife from the scene. "People went to hazard their lives to provender their children."

The turmoil came connected the 2nd time of operations by a U.S.-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel has slated to instrumentality implicit nutrient organisation successful Gaza — contempt absorption from the United Nations and different humanitarian organizations.

WATCH | Palestinians person assistance from GHF amid gunshots and chaos:

Muhammad Afana, 36, said he and hundreds of different Palestinians were made to basal successful 4 rows, earlier being searched and marched successful groups of 10 to a array to retrieve their container of aid.

He dispersed the contents of the container connected the crushed for El Saife to see: a fewer bags of flour, immoderate sugar, tea, pasta, beans, canned tuna and a container of cookies.

"I would spell to information to provender my kids," helium said. "They volition beryllium blessed erstwhile they spot the cookies."

'It was chaos,' antheral says

Palestinians person go hopeless for nutrient aft astir 3 months of an Israeli assistance blockade, which has pushed Gaza to the brink of famine, according to the World Health Organization.

On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of men, women and children walked for respective kilometres, done Israeli subject lines, to scope the GHF organisation hub acceptable up connected the outskirts of Rafah, successful confederate Gaza.

Hundreds could beryllium seen carrying boxes of assistance retired of the country connected their backs, oregon connected bikes or strollers, recounting the chaos they witnessed successful bid to get immoderate food.

In the afternoon, the AP journalist, positioned immoderate region from the hub, heard vessel and gunfire and saw a subject chopper firing flares. Smoke could beryllium seen rising from wherever 1 circular impacted. Afterwards, crowds were seen returning from the site, astir each of them without assistance packages.

Ahmed Abu Taha, who was among those seeking aid, said crowds of radical stormed into the organisation centre, breaking fences. He heard gunfire and saw Israeli subject craft overhead. "It was chaos," helium said. "People were panicked."

Another Palestinian, Saleh Abu Najjar, said helium heard a vessel firing from a distance, eastbound of the centre. "The concern was precise unsafe and radical were frightened," helium said.

8,000 nutrient boxes handed retired truthful far: GHF

In a statement, the GHF said due to the fact that of the ample fig of Palestinians seeking aid, unit astatine the hub followed the group's information protocols and "fell back" to let them to dissipate, past aboriginal resumed operations.

"What happened contiguous is conclusive grounds of the occupation's nonaccomplishment to negociate the humanitarian situation it deliberately created done a argumentation of starvation, siege and bombing," the Hamas-run authorities media bureau said successful a statement.

Armed backstage contractors are utilized by the GHF to defender the hubs and the proscription of supplies. The hub is besides adjacent to Israeli subject positions successful the Morag Corridor, a set of territory crossed the breadth of Gaza that divides Rafah from the remainder of the territory.

The GHF has acceptable up 4 hubs astir Gaza to administer food, 2 of which began operating connected Monday — both of them successful the Rafah area.

United Nations officials and assistance workers person warned of the hazard of friction between Israeli troops and crowds of radical seeking assistance astatine the hubs.

By precocious day connected Tuesday, the GHF said it had distributed astir 8,000 nutrient boxes, equivalent to astir 462,000 meals.

Father of 7 'afraid' to spell to organisation site

Although the assistance was disposable connected Monday, Palestinians appeared to person heeded warnings, including from Hamas, astir biometric screening procedures employed astatine the foundation's assistance organisation sites.

"As overmuch arsenic I privation to spell due to the fact that I americium bare and my children are hungry, I americium afraid," said Abu Ahmed, 55, a begetter of seven.

"I americium truthful frightened due to the fact that they said the institution belongs to Israel and is simply a mercenary, and besides due to the fact that the absorption [Hamas] said not to go," helium said successful a connection connected the chat app WhatsApp.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected Tuesday commented connected the turmoil astatine the Rafah centre, saying, "There was immoderate nonaccomplishment of power momentarily ... happily we brought it nether control."

COGAT, the Israeli subject bureau successful complaint of co-ordinating aid, said connected Tuesday that 400 trucks of supplies, chiefly food, was waiting connected the Gaza broadside of the main crossing from Israel but that the UN had not collected them. It said Israel has extended the times for postulation and expanded the routes that the UN can usage wrong Gaza.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian bureau OCHA, told reporters successful Geneva that agencies conflict to prime up the supplies "because of the insecure routes that are being assigned to america by the Israeli authorities to use."

He said the magnitude of assistance allowed the past week was "vastly insufficient."

Aid trucks looted

On Tuesday nighttime successful the Nuseirat refugee campy successful cardinal Gaza, assistance trucks were halted and looted by civilians trying to get their hands connected immoderate nutrient they could find.

The country was chaotic arsenic radical pushed and shoved, immoderate adjacent getting onto the flatbed of the motortruck to get to its contents.

CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife said helium saw boxes of assistance being carried distant connected the backs of immoderate who managed to unafraid them amid the fighting. 

He besides observed 1 idiosyncratic opening a box to spot the contents inside: a fewer cans of beans, lentils, lipid and rice. 

WATCH | Aid trucks successful cardinal Gaza are looted: